Eighty-eight percent of schools need at least one piece of foodservice equipment.

While 86 percent of schools in the United States serve healthy lunches, many could do it more effectively and at less cost if they had updated equipment and infrastructure, according to a study by the Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods Project.

In fact, nationwide, 88 percent of school districts need at least one piece of kitchen equipment, and 55 percent need kitchen infrastructure changes, such as electrical upgrades.

Many districts across the country have had success financing kitchen improvements. Conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods Project also outlines the way some schools approached funding, including partnerships, sponsorship funding, and low interest loans.